Pocket AMC Reader for Android 2.3.2 available [29.9.2020]

New scripts, templates and translation files that allows to use Ant Movie Catalog to manage other things than movies
toff
Posts: 10
Joined: 2011-04-02 09:46:15

Post by toff »

Thanks for your work Elman.
All my movies are loaded with the thumbnails and images without any problem.
The application crashes or just shut down without any notice though.
This happens only when I go up or down in the movies list.

I know the version 1.4.1 fixed this problem, as it was much worse in the 1.4.0 but the problem still occurs.

Any idea?
elman
Posts: 226
Joined: 2005-01-03 09:05:35

Post by elman »

Hi toff. Can you submit crash error? When application crashes, you are displayed a message which you can dismiss or you can report it to the developer via Android Market. Then I will see your error and investigate it.

Even if you can't, I have seen couple crashes myself when scrolling, so I will be looking at it later.
toff
Posts: 10
Joined: 2011-04-02 09:46:15

Post by toff »

Didn't reply here but I did :)
The new update fixed my problem big thanks!

Would be nice if you could add the missing fields used in amc like MediaType and the others as I use some of them.
Otherwise, last big request: Would it be possible to add an option to save everything to the sdcard as when the movies are loaded, the application uses a large amount of space. Would be greatly appreciated!

Anyway, very nice work. Many thanks! :)
elman
Posts: 226
Joined: 2005-01-03 09:05:35

Post by elman »

Ah, so that was you :) Found some tweaks how to reduce memory usage during thumbnails creation and it seems they were useful :)

Anyway, I already looked at "Move to SD card" feature and it is very easy to implement, so you can expect it in next version.

What do you mean by missing fields? All useful fields are shown on GUI. As far as I can remember I only ignored Original title and Translated title since I used Formatted Title (the one used in AMC in movie list) which can contain both. Some fields have different label than AMC, but they are there. For example MediaType can be seen on Basic tab under label "Type".
toff
Posts: 10
Joined: 2011-04-02 09:46:15

Post by toff »

Hi elman,

I was just reading your mail. The main missing fields were "Media Type" and "Media Label" but you called them "Type" and "Label".
Would be very nice to use the initial "Original Title" and "Translated Title" as I use them :)

So far so good. Looking forward for the Move to SD feature.

Do you think it would be possible to redirect imdb urls to the native android application instead of the website or the mobile website?
elman
Posts: 226
Joined: 2005-01-03 09:05:35

Post by elman »

Hi,

already have redirection to IMDB app in wish list. I also check out IMDb app, and it seems it only supports opening it with movie title search. So I won't be able to open exact movie, only search result for movie title and let IMDb app handle it (I guess if only one movie if found, it redirects to movie page).

Currently I'm not importing "Original Title" and "Translated Title" at all, as I had no use for it. I will probably will not display it in current layout but I'm considering alternate layout with all the fields.

Elman
rondinelle
Posts: 1
Joined: 2011-06-29 20:14:17

Kudos

Post by rondinelle »

Great start on this! I love being able to access my AMC on my Archos 70... my feature requests are (hopefully) humble... t'would be nice to be able to sort by other fields (I store the location of my movies in the Media Label field - or Label in Pocket AMC Reader, so to be able to sort by that field the way AMC can would be really beneficial). I know you can filter by that field, but the sorting is the stronger feature so that you don't have to hunt for the Label in an entry somewhere (without knowing exactly what that Label is).

Also, not sure how complicated it would be to allow for text resizing... these old eyes of mine aren't getting any keener and it would be nice to be able to increase the font size...

Thanks again! :grinking:
elman
Posts: 226
Joined: 2005-01-03 09:05:35

Post by elman »

Hi rondinelle. Thanks for your feedback. Text resizing is a good idea. I will add it to the wish list and will try to implement it in next version.

Adding sorting by media label would require to show it in movie list, which I would like to keep simple. I will think about it. :)
Rozenhajm
Posts: 3
Joined: 2011-07-21 15:36:15
Location: Czech Republic

Post by Rozenhajm »

Hello, thanks for your work, but there are some issues i have with your program which makes it unusable for me.

First is while browsing the list of movies, I don't really see logic in your fields used there. For example - I can't think of less relevant information than id and on other side more important than director or rating (which is missing there). Can't you make us pick which fields we want there?

Other thing is while looking at details of movie - many people tend to use arrows (or slides from side to side) to go to next/previous movie, after all, it's the standard way we browse pictures, navigate trough lists in common mp3 players on mobile devices. But here it just navigates through useless panels (can't they merge in one?) and it makes it ridiculously annoying just to browse details of few movies in row (you need click on movie, go through annoying panels, then back, then click on another movie - you'll be bored already at number 10).
Rozenhajm
Posts: 3
Joined: 2011-07-21 15:36:15
Location: Czech Republic

Post by Rozenhajm »

Well nevermind this, I just found out that Movies by Catwalk has been released to Android too, so PocketAMC is history for me. The same also goes to whole AMC, I did some research and found out some new applications (VisualDivX or Griffith) wich makes AMC feel kinda old and dumb :)

Anyways, thanks for your work!
elman
Posts: 226
Joined: 2005-01-03 09:05:35

Post by elman »

Hi,
Rozenhajm wrote:First is while browsing the list of movies, I don't really see logic in your fields used there. For example - I can't think of less relevant information than id and on other side more important than director or rating (which is missing there). Can't you make us pick which fields we want there?
ID is displayed there because it is displayed in desktop AMC. So people are used to it. Also version 1.5 added rating to the list. For the lack of better idea it is displayed as "8*/10". Also I have thought about possibility of customizing fields. I will add it to the wish list.
Rozenhajm wrote:Other thing is while looking at details of movie - many people tend to use arrows (or slides from side to side) to go to next/previous movie, after all, it's the standard way we browse pictures, navigate trough lists in common mp3 players on mobile devices. But here it just navigates through useless panels (can't they merge in one?) and it makes it ridiculously annoying just to browse details of few movies in row (you need click on movie, go through annoying panels, then back, then click on another movie - you'll be bored already at number 10).
Panels are not useless. Joining them into one is not a good idea since it might contain a lot of text. Just imagine actors + plot + trivia + goofs + comments. Might take at least 20 swipes to get to the bottom.

Anyway. Have you tried pressing menu when looking at movie details?
Rozenhajm
Posts: 3
Joined: 2011-07-21 15:36:15
Location: Czech Republic

Post by Rozenhajm »

Hello,

thanks for answer. Well I have another advice then - keep panels if you like, but can't you put somewhere buttons previous/next? Going back and forth actually costs time and requires quite many user actions, which make us annoyed ;)

And giving possiblity to pick and sort fields would be a great feature (even better if we could pick fields on detailed panels as well).

Anyways don't get me wrong, I'm glad there are people like you making non-profit applications to help us :)
toff
Posts: 10
Joined: 2011-04-02 09:46:15

Post by toff »

Thanks Elman for this last update.

The application still works great. Nevertheless, the cache of the movies is still stored on the internal memory rather than on the SD card. The application is movable to SD though.
Can you have a look at it?
So far right now my application is using around 4MB of internal memory, which makes my phone struggling.
Internal memory is a huge issue for old HTC devices (I've got an HTC Desire). Newer ones, as other brands are fine as far as I know, and even if I will have a brand new terminal very soon, it would have been great those unlucky people still struggling with old HTC terminals.

Thanks a lot! :)
elman
Posts: 226
Joined: 2005-01-03 09:05:35

Post by elman »

Hi,
toff wrote: The application still works great. Nevertheless, the cache of the movies is still stored on the internal memory rather than on the SD card. The application is movable to SD though.
Can you have a look at it?
I did check it out. Database I create is located at protected application space and Android itself doesn't provide any way to move it from internal memory to a SD card. There is a way to do it by overriding default database handler, however I'm not quite sure I want to this since it might bring quality and performance issues...
elman
Posts: 226
Joined: 2005-01-03 09:05:35

Post by elman »

Hi,
Rozenhajm wrote:Well I have another advice then - keep panels if you like, but can't you put somewhere buttons previous/next? Going back and forth actually costs time and requires quite many user actions, which make us annoyed ;)
You don't have to go back and forth. Just press Menu in details a select Next, Previous or Random. But I will add some floating arrows to the wish list.
Rozenhajm wrote: And giving possiblity to pick and sort fields would be a great feature (even better if we could pick fields on detailed panels as well).
Customizable fields on movie list are already on the wish list for next release :)
odyon
Posts: 3
Joined: 2011-08-20 21:38:58

Post by odyon »

Ok, I was just about to start a new project, to program an Android app which could import and display AMC files, and here it is! Thanks Elman for all the work! Gives me enough motivation to start indexing my mediaplayer (argosy hv335t) in Ant!

First feature request (not high priority, but I guess it would look nice): Possibility to show an overview of all the movie posters (thumbnails).

Thanks again!
elman
Posts: 226
Joined: 2005-01-03 09:05:35

Post by elman »

odyon wrote:Thanks Elman for all the work!
First feature request (not high priority, but I guess it would look nice): Possibility to show an overview of all the movie posters (thumbnails).
Thanks again!
Thanks! :grinking:
I will add poster overview to the wishlist :)
toff
Posts: 10
Joined: 2011-04-02 09:46:15

Post by toff »

Hi,

I've got my feature request (a little tiny one) :)

Would it be possible to manage the translated title please? It's handled neither through the filters or in the descriptions of movies.

Cheers!
elman
Posts: 226
Joined: 2005-01-03 09:05:35

Post by elman »

toff wrote:Hi,

I've got my feature request (a little tiny one) :)

Would it be possible to manage the translated title please? It's handled neither through the filters or in the descriptions of movies.

Cheers!
Hi, yes it would. After releasing today's version, it's right at the top of planned work :)
UPollaehne
Posts: 13
Joined: 2003-02-07 22:48:02

Post by UPollaehne »

A very helpful App. It works without any issue and now I have my movie catalog with me all the time.

Of course, the good can be made better and therefor I have two feature requests.

1. Disable standby while importing a catalog
2. Integrate Dropbox

My catalog contains 2300 movies and it takes some time to import this catalog. If the phone goes into standby the import does not finish.
Additionally my catalog is contained in one folder in Dropbox. If the app would support downloading all files from one folder in Dropbox I could save some time (executing the synch app).
Post Reply